Restricted entry: What doesn't make national headlines, but could, makes it here

The Secret ShowAn hour-long interview of Sunita Narain of Delhi’s Center for Science and Environment by Hollywood star Leonardo Di Caprio has become a bit of joke in the Indian capital, mainly because of the high levels of secrecy around the assignment. The crew checked into a hotel (the cops claim they were at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Delhi), swore the staff to secrecy, and called Narain just hours before Di Caprio was to board a return flight. And director Trevor Davidoski rejected all media requests for interactions, including one from CSE, Narain’s baby. Narain, suitably embarrassed, has promised to issue a press note with some pictures. The newspapers, enraged by the treatment, have decided to trash it.

Stop the intruderThis can only happen in Kolkata. Once, the then CM Jyoti Basu drew both flak and laughter after he complained of howling of foxes near his home in Salt Lake. Calcutta police got into the act, captured some and chased the rest away. The dailies had a great laugh the next day. Now, Mamata Banerjee is upset that mosquitoes from the next door Alipore Jail are invading her home in hordes. She has called the cops again. But handling mosquitoes is a difficult proposition. Banerjee, last heard, is still saddled with what she has called an “outside problem”.

All in guessing businessEveryone in the BJP office in the Indian capital is busy doing one thing: Tracking astrologers of sizes big and small and taking them to party bigwigs for predictions on Bihar, a state crucial to the country’s ruling party. Last heard, party big wigs were very distressed when many soothsayers — the biggest crowd came from the South — started predicting the party’s future than the outcome in Bihar. For obvious reasons, BJP workers are not very forthcoming on what the astrologers predicted.

Last WordOrganisers of the Indian Soccer League (ISL) are genuinely worried. Crowds have come, full blast entertainment is on, but lack of goals is a big issue. So, what can be done — drop Indian players and make it an all-foreigner zone? The debate has already started among some franchisees.